On 16/03/07, Brenda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Some consider source code as free speech and/or educational only. (myself included)
The source code is just instructions on how to do something, whereas the object code is.... just instructions on how to do something (hopefully the same thing as what the corresponding source code specified). With instructions that involve physical properties (such as how to cook spaghetti, or how to speak effectively) the instructions alone don't get you very far. You need labour and possibly raw materials. With source (or object) code, the instructions are pretty-much everything. That's why people want to pay lawyers to protect their instructions. I think that, if you want to consider source code as free speech, you must necessarily consider compiled code as free speech also. There can be no clear distinction between the two. $0.02 Cheers, Carl.
